# Arkansas HB1512: TO CREATE THE ARKANSAS ACCESS ACT; AND TO AMEND VARIOUS PROVISIONS OF THE ARKANSAS CODE AS THEY RELATE TO EDUCATION IN THE STATE OF ARKANSAS. Arkansas HB1512, TO CREATE THE ARKANSAS ACCESS ACT; AND TO AMEND VARIOUS PROVISIONS OF THE ARKANSAS CODE AS THEY RELATE TO EDUCATION IN THE STATE OF ARKANSAS., is a 2025 Regular Session House bill sponsored by Jonathan Dismang (Republican), Matthew J. Shepherd (Republican); status enacted, last action 2025-03-18 (Notification that HB1512 is now Act 341); PRIA reads it as touching household money (as of 2026-10-16). - Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/AR-HB1512-2025 - As of: 2026-10-16 - Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts. ## Facts - Bill: Arkansas HB1512 - State: Arkansas - Session: 2025 Regular Session - Title: TO CREATE THE ARKANSAS ACCESS ACT; AND TO AMEND VARIOUS PROVISIONS OF THE ARKANSAS CODE AS THEY RELATE TO EDUCATION IN THE STATE OF ARKANSAS. - Status: enacted - Chamber: House - Introduced: 2025-02-17 - Last action: 2025-03-18, Notification that HB1512 is now Act 341 - Sponsors: Jonathan Dismang (Republican), Matthew J. Shepherd (Republican) - Cosponsors: 25 - Touches household money: yes - Roll calls: 2 (108 yes, 23 no in all) - Economic provisions PRIA read: 59 ## Summary No summary available. ## Bill overview: provisions PRIA read - More scholarship help for workforce students: benefit, high. The Arkansas Workforce Challenge Scholarship's maximum award rises from $800 to $3,000 per academic year. Awards cannot exceed the eligible certificate or study program's cost. Scholarship money can cover expenses included in that cost. Awards depend on available scholarship funds. - New college scholarships for students with disabilities: benefit, high. The law creates the Governor’s Higher Education Transition Scholarship for Arkansas students with disabilities admitted to qualifying programs at state-supported colleges. Programs must be accredited by the Inclusive Higher Education Accreditation Council. Each semester’s award is capped at the low… - New scholarships for high school college courses: benefit, high. The law creates ACCESS scholarships for eligible Arkansas public high school students in grades 10–12 taking concurrent-credit courses. Awards provide $65 per credit hour, counting up to 15 hours per semester, with a $2,000 yearly cap including summer. Funds go in equal amounts to approved institut… - Another scholarship path for public school graduates: benefit, medium. Arkansas public high school graduates gain another route to the traditional Academic Challenge Scholarship, instead of the ACT superscore requirement. They must have at least a 3.0 high school GPA and complete at least one college-readiness assessment. They must also earn a diploma of merit under S… - Bigger starting scholarships for college students: benefit, medium. Qualifying full-time Arkansas Academic Challenge recipients at approved four-year colleges receive $2,000 annually with fewer than 27 earned semester credits. That award rises from $1,000. At approved two-year colleges, four-year branch campuses, and nursing schools, the first-year award also rises… - Families pay nothing for concurrent courses: benefit, medium. Students taking concurrent credit courses earn high school and college credit. Students, parents, and guardians are not responsible for tuition, fees, or materials for participation. - Governor's Scholars get revised selection paths: benefit, medium. Governor's Scholar selection recognizes a diploma of distinction or an associate degree earned by the summer after high school graduation. The diploma must meet state-board criteria. Selection uses highest exemplary academic achievement if no Distinguished Scholarship recipients exist or no qualify… - Heroes' children can file missed claims: benefit, medium. Eligible children can file individual Arkansas Heroes scholarship claims before turning 21. This route applies when the employee or heirs missed the deadline for an available death or disability benefit. The child must be a covered Armed Forces dependent or a dependent of an Arkansas hero injured o… - Lower college course costs for high schoolers: benefit, medium. Students can enter concurrent-credit courses when a college admits them and they meet prerequisites, without special nondegree or noncertificate status. Beginning in 2025–2026, public district and charter partnerships must set per-credit tuition between 0.5% and 2.5% of annual per-pupil funding. Th… - More training options for workforce scholarship students: benefit, medium. Public and private vocational schools can participate with state higher education approval and at least one qualifying listing or status. Those include the federal workforce training-provider list, eligibility for VA education-benefit approval, or the private-career-education board’s list. State hi… - Scholarship recipients can renew three times: benefit, medium. The scholarship renewal provision awards eligible recipients one academic year of support. Recipients can renew for up to three additional academic years. Renewal requires meeting continuing eligibility standards set by the Division of Higher Education. - Students gain more accelerated course options: benefit, medium. Beginning in 2025–2026, every public district and open-enrollment charter must offer at least four accelerated courses covering math, English, science, and social studies. State grants support advanced placement, international programs, concurrent credit, and approved similar programs, without form… - Career students can seek complaint hearings: benefit, low. Students alleging losses from broken school agreements or misleading admissions claims can send written complaints to the Division of Higher Education. No division-prescribed form is required. If informal resolution fails, a written hearing request must reach the division within one year after comp… - Career students gain apprenticeship priority consideration: benefit, low. Public high school students who finish an approved vocational or technical pathway earn a certificate of attainment. Apprenticeship programs must consider that certificate for acceptance and priority placement, rather than advanced placement. Admission or placement is not guaranteed. - High schoolers gain provisional college admission offers: benefit, low. Starting with the 2026–2027 graduating class, the Arkansas Direct Admissions Program provides provisional college offers using grades, assessments, and completed courses. Arkansas residents at participating accredited public or private high schools can use a shared application portal and college an… - Military students gain broader course placement: benefit, low. Course placement for students covered by the Arkansas Military Child School Transitions Act includes accelerated learning courses. It also includes academic, technical, and career pathway courses. - More support for advanced high school learning: benefit, low. Accelerated learning includes pre-AP, AP, International Baccalaureate, Cambridge advanced programs, and concurrent credit. Similar courses qualify only with approval from the state education division. Schools offering these courses can receive one-time grants for equipment and materials, using stat… - Schools can excuse approved student advocacy: benefit, low. Public districts and open-enrollment public charter schools can excuse absences for social or public policy advocacy. They can also excuse efforts to influence legislation or government policy at the local, state, or federal level. A parent, legal guardian, or person acting as a parent must provide… - Students gain another accepted college entrance test: benefit, low. State-supported colleges must accept the Classic Learning Test to the same extent as the ACT and SAT. This applies to admissions and eligibility for state-funded financial aid. The requirement does not cover college-funded assistance programs. - Students gain new weighted credit paths: benefit, low. Accelerated and approved weighted-credit courses use state-board grading rules rather than the standard A–F and 4-to-0 scale. The state must approve weighted credit for courses exceeding standard-course requirements, matching accelerated-course standards, or identified as honors classes. Approved c… - Schools can count more accelerated courses: benefit, low. Districts can count qualifying accelerated courses toward school approval, expanding the former advanced-placement-only option. They must have a qualified teacher, no enrollment in the matching required course, and teach all other required courses. Later-enrolling students must receive the required… - Schools earn recognition for supporting military families: benefit, low. Arkansas public districts and open-enrollment charter schools can earn a Purple Star School or School District designation. They must show a significant commitment to serving Armed Forces-connected students and families. The state education division can set rules for the designation. The law provid… - State aligns school and college numbering: benefit, low. Beginning in 2026–2027, the state higher education and K–12 divisions must review Arkansas's common course numbering system. They must recommend changes and begin aligning elementary and secondary courses. They must also establish regular review schedules and procedures. - Campus advocacy faces absence and damage penalties: cost, high. State-supported colleges cannot excuse absences or authorize walkouts for political protest, social or public-policy advocacy, or efforts to influence government. Students owe for college property damage they negligently or intentionally cause during political protest or public-policy advocacy. Onc… - False scholarship residency claims risk college dismissal: cost, high. Students who knowingly give false information to establish residency for state-funded scholarships are subject to dismissal from their state-supported college. The penalty applies to knowingly false claims, not simply an unsuccessful residency application. - Former public employee family scholarship repealed: cost, high. The law repeals the former scholarship subchapter for qualifying children and spouses of specified public employees. It covered employees killed or permanently and totally disabled during covered hazardous duty, including travel to or from hazardous situations. The former benefit lasted up to eight… - Residency checks can remove student scholarships: cost, high. Students who claim Arkansas residency for state scholarships face a required reduction or loss of aid after conflicting residency verification. This applies when verification of the Free Application for Federal Student Aid finds the student is not an in-state resident. - Self-inflicted injuries bar dependent Heroes scholarships: cost, high. Heroes scholarship benefits are barred when the hero’s wound, injury, or death was self-inflicted. Dependents cannot receive benefits based on that event, even if they otherwise qualify. - Academic Support students get leftover funding: cost, medium. Academic Support Scholarships receive only money left after sufficient funding for Academic Challenge, Workforce Challenge, and ACCESS to Acceleration Scholarships. ACCESS replaces Concurrent Challenge in that funding priority. Academic Support funding therefore depends on what remains after those… - College aid faces caps and ordering: cost, medium. Colleges must use the federal cost-of-attendance method for state-aid students, including only federally permitted costs and allowances. State aid cannot exceed reported attendance costs; private colleges face additional limits tied to comparable state colleges. Institutional work-study counts only… - Heroes' family scholarships have stopping points: cost, medium. Children cannot receive Arkansas hero scholarship benefits for a term if they are 26 by its first day. An enrolled spouse who marries keeps benefits through that semester. The spouse's benefits end after the semester in which the marriage occurs. - Old concurrent student scholarship program ends: cost, medium. The law ends the Arkansas Concurrent Challenge Scholarship Program. Students in grades 10–12 can no longer receive concurrent-enrollment or certificate-program awards through that program. This repeal provides no separate transition period for former recipients. - Military dependents must apply for federal aid: cost, low. Armed Forces dependents seeking benefits under the scholarship subchapter must apply for VA Survivors’ and Dependents’ Educational Assistance. They must give Arkansas higher education officials proof of federal acceptance or ineligibility after applying. These documents are required for access to t… - Schools cannot excuse political protest absences: cost, low. Public school districts and open-enrollment public charter schools cannot grant excused absences for political protests. Students cannot receive an excused absence for that purpose. - Career school recruiters lose licensing requirement: cost, low. Admissions representatives at licensed private career schools no longer need the license described in this law. The law removes the division's duty to set approval standards and license these representatives. It names no replacement credential. - Schools lose course and incentive support: cost, low. The law ends the Traveling Teacher Program, including its course-sharing arrangements, teacher bonuses, and travel reimbursements. It also ends district incentive funding tied to graduates completing the Smart Core curriculum. The Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate Diploma Incentive… - Schools lose teacher assignment hardship waivers: cost, low. Districts can no longer seek a hardship waiver for teacher assignments beyond the legal limit. The removed waiver covered assigning classes to teachers without the required grade-level or subject license. - Schools must pay accelerated service fees: cost, low. Grant-funded accelerated learning providers must publish their program fee lists by June 1 each year. Participating public high schools must pay the provider's service fee. Schools lose the option to buy only selected services through limited participation. This payment duty falls on schools, not d… - Students face broader history course requirements: cost, low. Grades 7–12 history and social studies courses eligible for graduation credit must cover U.S. history from colonial to modern times. Advanced placement courses no longer have an exception. - Broader Heroes scholarships with family eligibility rules: mixed, high. Heroes Scholarship coverage expands to additional appointed law officers and dependents of disabled veterans, prisoners of war, and listed missing or deceased military members. Students must meet at least one route: one year of Arkansas residency, birth before the hero’s death or disability, or pre… - Dependents get college help with limits: mixed, high. Eligible dependents pursuing a first bachelor's degree receive help with tuition, fees, and covered charges at qualifying Arkansas institutions. For those eligible for federal Survivors' and Dependents' Educational Assistance, state help covers only charges above federal monetary benefits. Private… - New standards for Governor’s scholarship applicants: mixed, high. Governor’s Scholars and Distinguished Scholars applicants must be legal Arkansas residents under state higher education rules and graduate from an Arkansas high school. Extraordinary academic ability requires an ACT superscore of at least 32 or SAT score of at least 1410. Applicants using that rout… - Students get defined scholarship residency paths: mixed, high. Unless another statute sets different rules, state scholarship residency has an Arkansas school-graduation path and a legal-residency path. The first covers Arkansas public, private, or home school graduation or expected graduation within nine months of enrollment. The second requires legal residen… - Workforce scholarships gain funding and application rules: mixed, high. Workforce Challenge applicants apply to an approved institution by the state deadline and must enter a qualifying high-demand certificate or associate-degree program. Applicants must meet high school completion and Arkansas residency rules; students under 21 can qualify through a parent’s residency… - Aid limits change with military exceptions: mixed, medium. A student’s combined aid at a state-supported college cannot exceed its recognized cost of attendance under the scholarship-stacking policy. Colleges must apply federal aid before the covered state aid unless federal law provides otherwise. Aid received by active Armed Forces or National Guard memb… - College faculty face annual job reviews: mixed, medium. Covered colleges must develop annual reviews of full-time faculty with faculty input, including peer, student, and administrator assessments. Reviews affect promotions, raises, and tenure, and can lead to training or loss of tenure. Colleges can also order immediate reviews for reasons such as poor… - Lottery money follows new scholarship priorities: mixed, medium. Lottery scholarship funding now includes ACCESS in place of Concurrent Challenge. After Academic Challenge awards are paid, remaining funds are shared proportionally among Workforce Challenge and ACCESS recipients. Remaining lottery proceeds also fund qualifying Governor’s Scholars and Heroes award… - Scholarship renewal rules allow one second chance: mixed, medium. Recipients under these scholarship renewal provisions must maintain at least a 2.0 GPA on a 4.0 scale. They must also meet continuing eligibility criteria set by state higher education officials. A recipient who loses eligibility can apply one additional time after regaining eligibility. - Teacher license grants change and tighten: mixed, medium. The separate Dual Licensure Incentive Program and its funding rules end. Teachers can seek Teacher Opportunity Program help for a different subject in which they are not already licensed. These awards require money left after priority-field awards and cover no more than six credits of tuition and f… - Accelerated teachers gain flexibility and requirements: mixed, low. Accelerated and concurrent-course instructors must meet the offering college's or authorized accreditor's requirements. The college must approve their credentials and relevant experience for its syllabus. Qualifying college-employed instructors can teach credit-bearing courses without the usual gra… - New credit rules for scholarship amounts: mixed, low. Academic Challenge applicants can no longer choose to count only credits earned after high school graduation or an equivalency diploma. Earned credits must be counted under the remaining award rules. For part-time students in the specified final award tier, awards can be adjusted based on enrolled… - School safety coverage and representation change: mixed, low. The state education commissioner chooses the people and stakeholders needed for the Arkansas Safe Schools Committee, replacing specified membership slots. The Arkansas Center for School Safety serves as the state's school safety clearinghouse. It must work with the Division of Elementary and Second… - Career school licensing coverage changes for students: mixed, low. Private career-school licensing covers listed occupational and correspondence training, aircraft-mechanic instruction, exam preparation, and driver education. Court-ordered driver education for motor vehicle violators is excluded. State-supported colleges are excluded, as are Arkansas-headquartered… - Career schools face revised licensing rules: mixed, low. The Arkansas Division of Higher Education has sole approval authority for covered career schools and licenses schools meeting its standards. Covered schools need licenses before operating or seeking Arkansas students; reviews cover programs, facilities, finances, staff, and legitimate operations. A… - Colleges face new ideology and diversity limits: mixed, low. State-supported colleges cannot compel covered students, staff, or contractors to affirm specified political, religious, or other ideological views. They cannot require diversity statements for covered decisions or condition class participation on protected traits or ideological views. The law limi… - Families see different school rating measures: mixed, low. School ratings must include academic achievement, statewide-test student growth, and school-level graduation rates. English-learner progress is no longer a specified measure. The law removes required consideration of achievement gaps, subgroup growth, credit attainment, resource equity, and advance… - School boards face stricter audit training: mixed, low. School board audit-report training must use Arkansas-licensed accounting expertise with school district audit experience. Training must meet supervision rules and come through an Arkansas college or education-department-sponsored or approved instruction. State audit employees may train multiple dis… - School districts gain state letter grades: mixed, low. The state education division must create a formula assigning letter grades to public school districts and education service cooperatives. The provision does not specify the formula’s measures. It creates no direct household payment or scholarship eligibility change. - Colleges face limits on duplicate funding: mixed, low. A college receiving vocational center aid cannot also receive concurrent-credit tuition funding for courses at a covered secondary vocational center. The law limits duplicate public funding. It specifies no funding amount or direct change to student charges. ## Sponsors and cosponsors - Sponsor: Jonathan Dismang (Republican), Senate - Sponsor: Matthew J. Shepherd (Republican), House - Cosponsor: Brandon Achor (Republican), House - Cosponsor: Wade Andrews (Republican), House - Cosponsor: Sonia Eubanks Barker (Republican), House - Cosponsor: Howard M. Beaty, Jr. (Republican), House - Cosponsor: Rick Beck (Republican), House - Cosponsor: Keith Brooks (Republican), House - Cosponsor: Frances Cavenaugh (Republican), House - Cosponsor: Cindy Crawford (Republican), House - Cosponsor: Les D. Eaves (Republican), House - Cosponsor: Jon S. Eubanks (Republican), House - Cosponsor: Brian S. Evans (Republican), House - Cosponsor: Zack Gramlich (Republican), House - Cosponsor: RJ Hawk (Republican), House - Cosponsor: John P. Carr (Republican), House - Cosponsor: Karilyn Brown (Republican), House - Cosponsor: Matt Brown (Republican), House - Cosponsor: Mindy McAlindon (Republican), House - Cosponsor: Rick McClure (Republican), House - Cosponsor: Jason Nazarenko (Republican), House - Cosponsor: Ryan A. Rose (Republican), House - Cosponsor: Stephen Meeks (Republican), House - Cosponsor: Randy Torres (Republican), House - Cosponsor: Steve Unger (Republican), House - Cosponsor: Jeff Wardlaw (Republican), House - Cosponsor: Carlton Wing (Republican), House ## Roll call votes | Date | Chamber | Motion | Result | Yes | No | Other | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 2025-03-17 | Senate | Senate Vote - Monday, March 17, 2025 4:12:59 PM | pass | 27 | 6 | | | 2025-03-13 | House | House Vote - Thursday, March 13, 2025 2:13:58 PM | pass | 81 | 17 | | ## Actions (19) - 2025-03-18: Notification that HB1512 is now Act 341 (House) - 2025-03-18: Correctly enrolled and ordered transmitted to the Governor's Office. (House) - 2025-03-17: TO BE ENROLLED (House) - 2025-03-17: Returned from the Senate as passed. (House) - 2025-03-17: Returned to the House as passed. (Senate) - 2025-03-17: Read the third time and passed. (Senate) - 2025-03-17: Rules suspended. (Senate) - 2025-03-13: Read the first time, rules suspended, read the second time and placed on the calendar. (Senate) - 2025-03-13: Received from the House. (Senate) - 2025-03-13: Read the third time and passed and ordered transmitted to the Senate. (House) - 2025-03-12: REPORTED CORRECTLY ENGROSSED (House) - 2025-03-12: Amendment No. 2 read and adopted and the bill ordered engrossed. (House) - 2025-03-12: Placed on second reading for the purpose of amendment. (House) - 2025-03-10: Returned by the Committee with the recommendation that it do pass as amended 2 (House) - 2025-03-06: REPORTED CORRECTLY ENGROSSED (House) - 2025-03-06: Amendment No. 1 read and adopted and the bill ordered engrossed. (House) - 2025-03-06: Placed on second reading for the purpose of amendment. (House) - 2025-02-17: Read the first time, rules suspended, read the second time and referred to the Committee on EDUCATION COMMITTEE- HOUSE (House) - 2025-02-17: Filed (House) ## Bill text - HB1512 - Introduced, 2025-02-17: [PDF](https://www.arkleg.state.ar.us/Home/FTPDocument?path=%2FBills%2F2025R%2FPublic%2FHB1512.pdf) - Act Version: [PDF](https://www.arkleg.state.ar.us/Acts/FTPDocument?path=%2FACTS%2F2025R%2FPublic%2F&file=341.pdf&ddBienniumSession=2025%2F2025R) ## Related bills - HB1265: AN ACT FOR THE UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS AT LITTLE ROCK APPROPRIATION FOR THE 2025-2026 FISCAL YEAR. (enacted) - HB1686: TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING LICENSES TO CARRY CONCEALED HANDGUNS. (failed) - HB1237: TO PROHIBIT MEDICAL PROFESSIONALS FROM SOLICITING INJURED INDIVIDUALS; AND TO SET PENALTIES FOR A VIOLATION OF THE PROHIBITION OF SOLICITATION OF INJURED INDIV… (failed) - SB440: TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING EMBALMERS AND FUNERAL DIRECTORS; TO REGULATE THE USE OF ALKALINE HYDROLYSIS; AND TO REGULATE ALKALINE HYDROLYSIS FACILITIES. (failed) - HB1695: TO CLARIFY THE FORECLOSURE PROCESS FOR PROPERTY SUBJECT TO A MUNICIPAL LIEN; TO ALLOW A MUNICIPALITY TO PETITION TO SET ASIDE THE SALE OF PROPERTY TO CERTAIN P… (failed) - HR1012: TO AMEND THE RULES OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE NINETY-FIFTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY; TO REQUIRE THAT A MEMBER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES BE SELECTED A… (failed) ## Sources - [HB1512 - Introduced (PDF)](https://www.arkleg.state.ar.us/Home/FTPDocument?path=%2FBills%2F2025R%2FPublic%2FHB1512.pdf) - [Act Version (PDF)](https://www.arkleg.state.ar.us/Acts/FTPDocument?path=%2FACTS%2F2025R%2FPublic%2F&file=341.pdf&ddBienniumSession=2025%2F2025R) ## Related - [HB1265: AN ACT FOR THE UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS AT LITTLE ROCK APPROPRIATION FOR THE 2025…](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/AR-HB1265-2025) - [HB1686: TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING LICENSES TO CARRY CONCEALED HANDGUNS.](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/AR-HB1686-2025) - [HB1237: TO PROHIBIT MEDICAL PROFESSIONALS FROM SOLICITING INJURED INDIVIDUALS; AND TO S…](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/AR-HB1237-2025) - [SB440: TO AMEND THE LAW CONCERNING EMBALMERS AND FUNERAL DIRECTORS; TO REGULATE THE US…](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/AR-SB440-2025) - [HB1695: TO CLARIFY THE FORECLOSURE PROCESS FOR PROPERTY SUBJECT TO A MUNICIPAL LIEN; TO…](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/AR-HB1695-2025) - [HR1012: TO AMEND THE RULES OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE NINETY-FIFTH GENERAL…](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/AR-HR1012-2025) - [Arkansas bills](https://policyrisk.com/states/arkansas/bills) - [Arkansas state hub](https://policyrisk.com/states/arkansas) - [All state legislation](https://policyrisk.com/state-bills) Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/AR-HB1512-2025 (as of 2026-10-16).